NFCU Bill Pay Service

[5KRunner]

I've been thinking of switching my direct deposit from PenFed to NFCU, and would like to hear from people who've used NFCU's bill pay service. Is there any way to determine whether they'll send a check instead of an electronic payment?

[Anonymous]

I use the bill pay service with NFCU. I am not sure if they send checks or electronically, yet I can say that when I send a payment with this service within a day or 2 it shows up on the receivers end. 

[Anonymous]

Then i'd wager that it's definitely not a check.

[5KRunner]

I set up a bunch of payees just to get a feel for the process. Some of them prompted me to set up e-bills (to receive billing statements through the BIll Pay service rather than the payee), and others did not. PNC, which uses CheckFree, did the same thing. But the absense of an e-bill option didn't necessarily indicate that they were sending checks.

I paid a few bills through PenFed last night. Two of the 3 credited today (both AmEx cards), while I'm still waiting on the 3rd (Wells Fargo). PenFed's system indicates that both payees have the ability to receive payments electronically.

[Anonymous]

If they are anything like my bank, if it doesn't tell you they will mail a check but the date is further out than your electronic ones, it is quite likely a check. 

[CreditInspired]

I've been using NFCU billpay for eons and the only time a check was sent, it was person-to-person.

I have noticed in the last 2 months, however, that now a box pops up when a payment is scheduled that says something to the effect of: "if the biller doesnt accept ACH transactions, a check will be mailed."

[Anonymous]

If NFCU Billpay is anything like my CU, it depends entirely on the merchant you are paying. If the merchant is set up to receive ACH payments Billpay will send the payment electronically (sometimes, the first [couple] payment[s] may be remitted via check). For example, if you're paying a large, well-established merchant like your Macy's card, the payment is more likely to be remitted via ACH, however, if you're sending payment to an HOA that isn't set up to receive ACH transactions it may send a check. 

Billpay/Fiserv typically remit two types of checks - one type of check gets withdrawn from your account the moment it is issued and the other type will not get withdrawn until the merchant negotiates the item. 

[SouthJamaica]

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@5KRunner wrote:

I've been thinking of switching my direct deposit from PenFed to NFCU, and would like to hear from people who've used NFCU's bill pay service. Is there any way to determine whether they'll send a check instead of an electronic payment?

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They do some electronically and some by check. It varies by account. As a general rule they pay electronically to big companies and by check to smaller ones.

You can tell when you set up the payment.